Ex-Samsung Exec Leads Korea’s Specialty Fab to Expansion

Size matters to every foundry's business. Digital CMOS process fab businesses live or die by their ability to deliver finer geometry and larger wafers and not play chicken when it's time for massive capital expenditures.

For analog/mixed-signal foundries, however, what matters more is the ability to select the right product mix from a vast array of applications and develop the necessary process technology in a timely fashion.

Differentiation
When asked how Dongbu is trying to differentiate itself from other specialty foundries, Choi said, "There are so many different applications specialty foundries can address." Dongbu can set itself apart from its competitors by its focus and "higher-precision analog technology."

Integrated Device Technology Inc. (IDT), which is staking its future on new dual-mode wireless charging ICs, has added Dongbu as one of its foundry partners. Arman Naghavi, vice president at IDT’s analog and power division, told us it chose Dongbu because of its capacity and capability. "We have a multi-level relationship with Dongbu. We like their fast turnaround, extra capacity, and their willingness to modify tools," he said. "They are first class."

Looking back on the 30 years he spent at Samsung, Choi said he was fortunate that he had opportunities to change his specialty and responsibilities at its semiconductor business every four years. "The breadth of technology, knowledge, and experience I gained at Samsung include SoC designs, memory and logic processes, and fab management."

When asked the most important lessons he brought from his previous employer to Dongbu, Choi said, "At Samsung, we made the objectives of the company very clear. And we made them simple." The company also "made a habit of making timely decisions. Even a wrong decision is better than no decision. Because once a decision is made, we always have the opportunity to come back and make it better."

Dongbu is really very fortunate to have Chang-Sik Choi as CEO for the firm. It is also very evident that Dongbu is having a very diversified product line, but still many products like MEMS are missing in it, Choi will be the right person to bring all the remaining into the basket of Dongbu. Also 300mm wafer size if a high demand of the growing need of semiconductor chips in the industries, and that will increase the production capacity almost by 50% more.

The cost of building and running a fab is so high that few companies can afford the outlay. Foundries will always be needed by startups, so the business model is sound. Focusing on analog and high voltage processes should allow higher margins. The hard part is growing capacity without overextending the finances of the company.

But you are absolutely correct that MagnaChip is also offering a specialty foundry service similar to Dongbu. MagnaChip, too, is hoping to take advantage of the explosive growth of smartphones and tablets worldwide; MagnaChip, which is also striving to offer processes for such products as PMIC, modules and MOSFET, announced earlier this year the availability of 0.18 micron BCD process technology.